Boy Scouts trying to draw more Hispanics

LOS ANGELES — Aiming to boost their sagging numbers, the Boy Scouts are launching a million-dollar campaign to draw more Hispanics, a group that has long resisted Scouting’s appeal.

But the Scouts’ national officials acknowledge that it might be a tough sell. Only three of every 100 Scouts are Hispanic, and some immigrant families see Scouting as an indulgence of the well-to-do in their home countries. Some also bristle at the uniforms.

“We go in a uniform that looks like the Border Patrol,” said Paul Moore, head of the Scouts’ Los Angeles Area Council. “Then we ask (adult volunteers) to fill out complex applications that ask for their Social Security numbers.”

For 2009, the Scouts have targeted six heavily Hispanic areas across the U.S., including Fresno and San Jose in California, for a pilot program called Hispanic Initiatives. Radio commercials, public service announcements and messages on social networking sites such as Facebook will underscore the similarity between Scouting’s values and traditional Hispanic family values, officials said.

The effort — which also focuses on New York; Chicago; Orlando, Fla.; and Harlingen, Texas — will stress the hiring of more Hispanic staffers, a goal the organization has set for its 304 local councils across the U.S.